Weinstein’s the problem? Mohammed is the answer

Not “The Onion” but “Independent”, though it’s increasingly difficult to spot the difference:

If the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse revelations shocked you, then you’re dangerously ignorant to reality. According to RAINN, an American is assaulted every 98 seconds, one out of every six women will deal with rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, and 90 per cent of rape victims are women.

I’m a Muslim, and a civil rights lawyer with a special interest in advocating for women’s rights. My advocacy is informed not just by the law, but by strategies detailed in Islamic teachings and Prophet Muhammad’s example to pre-empt sexual abuse.

Rashid goes on to acknowledge that “the cancer ofsexual abuse against women that we see in Christian majority America is just as prevalent in Muslim majority Pakistan, but also in Hindu majority India and state atheist China. This proves that men worldwide are failing in our responsibility to end sexual abuse and gender based violence.” Well, maybe, maybe not – I’m not here to investigate the comparative rates of sexual and other violence against women throughout different parts of the world – but if you argue that

Weinstein is a symptom of the greater disease of arrogance, unaccountability, societal apathy, and from men who knew of the abuse but did nothing. Islam and Prophet Muhammad provide a practical solution.

and at the same admit that “the cancer of sexual abuse against women… is just as prevalent in Muslim majority Pakistan”, then it seems that Rashid’s “practical solution” is not being applied in the very places where it most logically and naturally should. If a Muslim “solution” to sexual abuse does not work in a Muslim country, what hope is there that it will work elsewhere? Yet Rashid insists it’s “a proven Islamic model that will stop this madness, and re-invoke gender equity today in America, and the world.”

Proven where?

That’s according to the World Economic Forum. Wonder what these countries could possibly have in common? You can also explore this map which let’s you go beyond the bottom 10:

Oh, I know, “gender inequality” is not the same as “sexual harassment”, but let’s not kid ourselves that all cultures are equal.

Rashid’s proof turns out to be quite theoretical:

In a recent internationally broadcast lecture given live before roughly 6,000 Muslim women, the Khalifa of Islam said, “Chapter four, verse two of the Holy Quran…clarifies that women were not created out of the body of a man or from his rib. Rather, the Quran testifies to the fact that men and women were created from a single soul and are of the same kind and species.”

hus, the Quran 4:2 first establishes men and women as equal beings. Chapter 4:20 then forbids men from forcing a woman to act against her will, thereby ensuring women maintain autonomy and self-determination.

This verse also commands men to consort with women in kindness, forbidding men from so much as thinking ill of their wives. This preempts emotional and mental abuse. Chapter 4:35 furthermore prevents violence against women by forcing men to control themselves and never resort to physically harming women– preempting physical abuse.

Etcetera. Which is all nice, but Koran – never mind the hadditah – like many other religious writings, contains enough mixed messages for anyone to pick and choose what they want. Mohammed, after all, had numerous wives, including a 6-year old and another one he forced his stepson to first divorce. Then there is the slavery, including sexual slavery, the marital right to sexual access, and the merry list goes on.

The real proof, of course, is in the pudding, and the pudding is pretty flat and sour. Rashid’s “practical” and “proven” solution is as real as the Soviet Constitution, which guaranteed democracy and human rights. It takes more than words, and actions speak a lot louder.

A Saudi investor has taken a significant stake in the Independent, potentially pumping millions of pounds into the liberal news website but may spark a controversy about the human rights record of the Middle Eastern country.

Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel has taken a stake of between 25% and 50% in Independent Digital News and Media, the holding company of the Independent, according to filings at Companies House.

Islam as “the most feminist religion” strikes again. When will Yassmin Abdel-Maghied start writing op-eds for the Saudi Independent?